Simon Earl - return to Welcome
Organ Recitals Nationwide
Programme
Marche Heroique - Herbert Brewer (1865-1928)
Meditation from Thaïs - Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor (BWV537) - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Elegy - Brenda Portman (b.1980)
Suite pour Orgue - Denis Bédard (b.1950)
i) Prélude
ii) Lamento
iii) Toccata
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 140) - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Rorate Caeli - Melissa Dunphy (b.1980)
Final (Sonata I in D Minor) - Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Biography
Simon Earl is the Director of Music, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Christchurch Priory, a position he has held since February 2015. In this role, his principal responsibilities are the training, recruitment and development of the five choirs that currently sing for services in the Priory, as well as oversight of all concerts, Festivals and other musical events in the Priory, in particular the 8-day ChristchurchPriory Music and Arts Festival, for which he is Artistic Director. Brought up and educated in Surrey, he received his formative musical training as a chorister and later Assistant Organist at Frimley parish church. He held Organ Scholarships at Southwell Minster (2005/06), Newcastle Cathedral (2006-2009), St John’s College, Durham (2008/09) and Guildford Cathedral (2009/10) and read for a degree in Music at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he specialised in organ performance and choral conducting. Between 2011 and 2015 he was Assistant Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral, where he toured, broadcast and recorded regularly with the Cathedral Choirs. Simon is Musical Director of The Grange Choral Society. He maintains a busy recital schedule, is an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, and is regularly invited to lead and accompany choral events in the UK and abroad. He holds the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists diploma, and his first solo CD - Roulade - was released in September 2019, which celebrates the music of English and American composers and organists. In any spare time, Simon enjoys cooking and experimenting in all things culinary, as well as sailing and kayaking.
